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-   -   At my wits end with cat food, need advice (http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=81028)

mischa91 May 11th, 2012 08:25 AM

At my wits end with cat food, need advice
 
Hi,

I have 1 sickly finicky eater and 1 larger cat who will eat mostly everything but really needs to gain some weight.

I'm on a bit of a tight budget at the minute and am trying to feed my cats good food that will stop my females vomiting and put weight on my male cat while keeping in my budget (their food budget each month is higher than mine, if i had more money for food i would spend it)

My feeding schedule:

AM, mischa (sickly cat) gets half a tin of premium food, something like natures instinct or similar mixed in with pumpkin baby food to keep her from getting constipated. Spencer (skinny) get 1 whole tin of fancy feast, i know, but i was having trouble affording enough of the premium food for both of them. So he gets the whole tin plus a side helping of natures instinct dry food.

PM Again mischa get the other half of her tin and spencer gets another whole tin of fancy feast. I usually wait until later in the evening to give him his helping of dry food since he tends to leave it at dinner time and then mischa sometimes steals some. So i wait and he usually gets a small helping around 8pm.

I am willing to change my feeding schedule/what i feed. I'm going to talk to the vet about it on monday when i take spencer for his diarrhea, but any advice about what i should be feeding, the best way to get weight on this cat.

I have no clue how cats get as fat as they do, mine have never been over weight. My friend has 2 and her's are huge!

sugarcatmom May 11th, 2012 11:43 AM

How do you feel about trying a raw diet? It would probably solve a lot of the issues you're having and can potentially be cheaper if you source the meat wisely. Here are some good articles on the subject:

[url]http://catcentric.org/2012/03/19/a-smorgasbord-of-getting-started-tips-for-frankenprey-feeding/[/url]
[url]http://www.holisticat.com/rawrecipe.html[/url]

mischa91 May 11th, 2012 11:58 AM

I've been reading all morning about it and am very interested to try it. I'm heading to the butcher this afternoon to see if they can grind me up a chicken thigh to try my kids on. If i wanted to cook it a tiny bit to entice them could i cook it lightly in a pan? or would i have to back it?

sugarcatmom May 11th, 2012 01:12 PM

You can absolutely cook fresh meat when first introducing it, but I would use just plain chicken meat without bone at first. Cooking can make bones brittle and increase the potential for intestinal issues.

mischa91 May 11th, 2012 01:25 PM

Okay cool, thanks for the advice. I'll have to go pick up chicken since i'm veggie and haven't had any in my house for 6 years. It'll be odd cooking meat again. I really hope it helps my cats, poor Spencer has been feeling poorly this week.

Love4himies May 11th, 2012 02:32 PM

You are in good hands with SCM.

There is no better way to put on some healthy muscle mass than by feeding your cat's raw.


[QUOTE=sugarcatmom;1039701]
[url]http://catcentric.org/2012/03/19/a-smorgasbord-of-getting-started-tips-for-frankenprey-feeding/[/url]
[/QUOTE]

Just a note on this link and raw feeding:

If you can't get thyroid glands, the add a tiny pinch of iodized salt for iodine and it is necessary to include some skin in the raw as cats do not get their Vit D from the sun, but from the skin of their prey;).

They mention heart being part of the "muscle meat group", but I feel it should be added regularly to your cat's diet as it contains a lot of taurine, an essential amino acid.

mischa91 May 11th, 2012 03:19 PM

I hope so. Well I bought chicken thighs and cut them up wearing gloves so I wouldn't have to touch the chicken. I threw the chunks on a pan and cooked them on the stove top for about 30 seconds and flipped them. Let them cool and threw them in with a mix of tinned food and mashed pumpkin. Spencer went right for the chicken then everything else! Yay! Mischa moved hers around the dish, chewed on a few bits but didn't eat any, could be because she was sick this morning so has a pretty empty stomach, could be she just likes pumpkin more than chicken. I'll try again with her, I figured I'd up their food to 3 times a day upping the meat content as time goes on. I'll see how they feel about turkey and beef too.

Most of the recipes online call for fish oil, I think mischa might be allergic to fish; is there anything I could use instead? Or just miss it out? I'm going to see too if my local SAMs club could grind up some stuff for me so i wouldn't have to buy a grinder incase the kids don't go for it.


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